Ireland A experience 'something I'm proud of' - Diarmuid Barron

While this season has been one of frustration so far for Munster, it's personally been one to remember for Diarmuid Barron.

The Tipperary hooker established himself as a regular in the province's matchday squads last season, and has continued that upward trajectory since September.

The 24-year-old has three starts among five appearances for the province this season, and appears to be putting real pressure on Niall Scannell for a starting place in the Munster front row.

Away from the province, he's also being noticed. His five games for Munster this season would likely be seven or eight had he not been brought on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa earlier in the campaign, and he made enough of an impression on that trip to be brought into the Ireland A squad this month, featuring for them in their defeat to an All Blacks XV at the RDS.

Even in recent weeks, he played a major part in Munster's 28-14 win against a South Africa Select XV at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, scoring their third try just before half-time [pictured below].

The hooker has had to be patient for his chance with Munster - 27 of his 40 appearances for them have come since September 2021 - but says the experiences of the last two months have been worth the wait.

"It's been great, when you're a little bit younger, maybe 21 or 22, you're looking forward to times like this when you're sitting on the sideline waiting for a chance, and waiting for opportunity," he said.

"Having those opportunities was class. It was enjoyable too. The Emerging Ireland tour was excellent, I got a lot out of it, and then back to play the Bulls and it was a really enjoyable night in Thomond Park.

"We had a couple of close defeats to Leinster and Ulster, but we'd encouraging performances.